Monday, December 3, 2012

Sailor Moon Sailor Stars Series 2 UFO Plush Banpresto 1996

The second (and final) Sailor Moon Sailor Stars set by Banpresto, made in 1996. As of writing this, this plush set is 16 years old. Can you believe that!? 16!! It just blows my mind...

Anyhow, unlike the first Stars set which consisted of 5 plush, this one has 6: Starlights (Maker, Healer, Fighter), Eternal Moon, ChibiChibi, and Chibichibi Moon. I am a huge Star Fighter fan, so I was really glad to get this set from... Hitoshi Doi! Hahaha funny how things come full circle like that. In 1996, the internet was newer and Doi had one of the only Sailor Moon websites, and when he posted a picture of Eternal Sailor Moon my friends and I lost our minds (we only had up to R in the states at that point). I think it fitting I acquired this set from Doi, since he was the one that made me realize that Sailor Stars even existed.

Nice little story, but moving on...

...the Starlights in question. I am going to post more pictures than I probably need to of these guys, and also possibly larger than some of the other pictures on my blog, just because they're great.

About note plushie aging: The material they used for their outfits is a bit odd, I've seen it peeling on lots of auctions or damaged in some way. Mine are intact, but I take care to wrap them in a cotton tshirt and make sure their tags aren't touching them when they are in storage. I find plush that have coated fabric like this sometimes have a slight odor, much like when I open up my figure cabinet it smells heavily of PVC.

Here is Sailor Star Maker / Taiki, looking a bit more haughty than maybe he was meant to ^_^;;. I like how they were attentive to her eyebrow shape as well. (SOLD)

Sailor Star Healer / Yaten. Hahaha, looking rather spritely. Nice color that they chose for her eyes. I think the little pony tail in the back is so cute! (SOLD)

Saved the best for last, apparently! Here is Sailor Star Fighter / Seiya. She looks great, doesn't she?? I love her face. I've seen a few of these at auction and I feel that for this set there was some quality control lacking. Many of their faces seem squished or skewed in some way, but I'm glad my Starlights looks immaculate. (SOLD)

Putting all the Chibichibis together. She's really cute, and they made her smaller so it works well with Eternal Moon. I like the face on Chibichibi better than the over exuberant Sailor Chibichibi, but still they're both adorable. Chibi Chibi school uniform SOLD

Another Eternal Sailor Moon, this time she's got a wink and her wand. I do like that the wand isn't hard plastic. I've seen wands from so many different plushies, and I feel it works best this way, as a sturdier felt doubled up. The hard plastic ones look too detailed in comparison to the plush to me, and the ones that are hard and just have a picture printed on them tend to peel.

Full set picture, and tag (you know how I love it when there's a picture of the set on the tag XD).

For pricing, it depends on who is bidding/buying. The Starlights I see selling damaged in the $40-50 range, like new for $65+. Eternal Moon around the $45-65 range, the same with the Chibichibis. I saw the whole set sell on ebay recently for around $450 Buy it Now or something crazy like that (though I suppose it probably felt nice for that person to get them all in one go).

Edit: I saw a chibi chibi sell recently on ebay for $80. I think sailor moon fever has come back full force, surely. I am now selling this set. The prices seem to only be going up on them, Sailor Moon nostalgia is definitely in full swing.